Red Red Wine
by EllisBelle
Summary: What if Iris and Sofie shared a couple of bottles of wine one night? What if Justin walked in during their little party? Dun, dun, dun. Fun with our favorite characters. (JustinIris, of course and Sofie and Iris friendship)
1. One

The Fine Print: DK and HBO own them; we just take them out to play.

Note: With the impending Armageddon, we thought Iris, Justin, and Sofie could use a little fun. So from the seeds of Dana's brilliant idea at the chat the other night, grows this collaborative fanfic. Dana has written Chapters 1, 2, and 5. I wrote 3 and 4.

**Red Red Wine**

Chapter One

by Dana (twinb80)

As Sofie rounded the corner of the house, she found Miss Iris Crowe sitting on the steps. Sofie was a little taken aback by the sight that greeted her. She had always seen Miss. Crowe in a fairly good mood and she was always doing some errand or another to do with the Temple of Jericho. Sofie had been running errands down in the migrant camp and was now heading back to the house to finish her chores. She had recently started to talk with Miss Crowe and Sofie found her to be a kind hearted, if dominating, woman. Sofie figured that had to do with the type of life Miss Crowe lead but she hadn't wanted to pry into her new employer's business. It would have been like going into Management's trailer without Sampson's permission. Not that she had ever been in Management's trailer. No only Sampson and Professor Lodz had gone in there and Sofie had never thought to try and go in herself. Sofie shook her head and made herself remember where she was. The Carnivale was her other life and she needed to let that life go.

Her eyes fell on Miss Crowe again and Sofie felt sorry for her sitting there on the stairs. Miss Crowe appeared lonely. Sofie recalled how earlier that morning she had heard Brother Justin and his sister in another argument upstairs. Sofie couldn't hear what they were saying but their voices had been loud and then she had heard a door slam and watched as Brother Justin left the house. Sofie had never had a brother or a sister so she didn't know how those types of relationships worked. She knew that Brother Justin and his sister cared for each other, but lately there had been much hostility between them and Sofie didn't understand why this was. She made her way over to the stairs and coughed politely into her hand. Miss Crowe didn't look up but continued to stare off into space. Her hands were in her lap and her knees were pulled up underneath her dress. To Sofie she looked like a lost child. She wanted to make things right since Miss Crowe had taken a liking to her and talked with her about her late mother. To Sofie's amazement, she had learned that Miss Crowe herself had lost her mother at a young age like her, and Sofie had felt a little connection there. She tried again to get Miss Crowe's attention but it didn't work.

Sofie wondered what had made Miss Crowe so quiet and tried to think of a way to cheer her up. She really didn't know that much about Miss Crowe but she tried to think of what would cheer her up if she was feeling down. Her mind flashed on Libby and the Carnivale. They had become friends before Sofie found out that Jonesy was seeing Libby's mom. Sofie had never really had a friend before because her time had always been spent with Mama. But Libby turned out to be a great friend and they had a few laughs here and there. That was what Miss Crowe needed. She needed to laugh and to have a good time. One of the best times Libby and her had was when they were drinking Mescal on the back of the truck. Sofie grinned at the memory but then thought maybe Miss Crowe wouldn't approve of Mescal. Sofie frowned but she couldn't think of anything else. She coughed into her hand again and when she didn't get a reaction, she decided to sit down next to Miss Crowe on the stairs.

Iris Crowe had been staring out at the scenery around her when she suddenly caught something out of the corner of her eye. She turned and found Sofie sitting next to her. Iris was startled because she hadn't seen Sofie return. But here she was sitting next to her and she had a huge grin on her face. Iris blinked her eyes and asked her what was so funny. Sofie didn't say anything and Iris wondered what the girl was up too.

"Miss Crowe...I know it ain't my place to say so but you look sad."

"I am not sad Sofie. I am just sitting here thinking."

"About?"

"That's really none of your busy young lady."

"I know it isn't but you look like you could use a friend."

Iris was taken back at what Sofie had said to her. Did she really look that in need of companionship? Earlier that day Justin and her had gotten into another argument and he had stormed out of the house leaving her behind. Again. She had wandered around the house doing mundane housework and then had found her way out here on the porch. Iris liked the view the porch had and at first she had just stood on the top stairs taking in God's mountains. As she stood there she thought of Justin and how he had been treating her lately. She had thought after Tommy Dolan had been taken away by the police that she and Justin would go back to the way they were. They hadn't. And now she was here alone again. She had drifted down the stairs intending to go for a walk to the pond but she hadn't made it there. Instead she sat down on the stair and pulled her legs underneath her like the child she used to be. Her mind had wandered to the past and her memories of happier days replayed in her mind. She hadn't noticed when Sofie came back and now the girl was telling her that she needed a friend. Iris sighed and took the girl's hand in hers.

"That is very thoughtful of you, dear. But you don't have to worry about me. I am ok."

"If you say so, Miss Crowe. But what it looks like to me is that you need to have a good time. Have a few laughs. Me and my best friend used to have laughs when we drank together."

Iris didn't know what to say to this. She hadn't really had a drink since Tommy Dolan had come courting her last year. He had brought a bottle of wine and they had listened to his record of his interview with Val Templeton. Iris really wasn't a drinker and she had become a little intoxicated by her second glass of wine. Wine. She still had that wine bottle around the new house. It had been one of the things packed away when they had moved. Iris had packed the bottle away herself so that the migrants hadn't seen and started asking unnecessary questions. The bottle had been put in the back of the refrigerator and then forgotten. Iris smiled to herself and told Sofie to follow her. They went into the house and then found their way to the kitchen. Iris opened the refrigerator door and pushed aside the contents until she found the wine bottle in the back. To her surprise, she found another bottle back there and then remembered that one of Justin's radio supporters had sent it. She grabbed both of the bottles and shut the door with her foot. When she turned around, she found that Sofie had already grabbed two glasses from the cabinets. Iris grinned and they made their way to the living room.


	2. Two

The Fine Print: DK and HBO own them; we just take them out to play.

Note: With the impending Armageddon, we thought Iris, Justin, and Sofie could use a little fun. So from the seeds of Dana's brilliant idea at the chat the other night, grows this collaborative fanfic. Dana has written Chapters 1, 2, and 5. I wrote 3 and 4.

**Red Red Wine**

Chapter Two

by Dana (twinb80)

Sofie sat down onto the couch and watched as Miss Crowe put the two bottles of wine on the table. Sofie handed her the glasses and soon they were filled with wine. Miss Crowe stood before her and for a moment Sofie thought she would back down and hand her the glass back. Instead she watched as Iris Crowe took a deep breath and said, "To good times," as they clinked their glasses together. Sofie grinned as she saw Miss Crowe drown the first glass of wine in one sip. Iris stood there and felt the wine go through her body. The wine warmed her and she felt decadent for drinking but she didn't care. She didn't want to be herself right now and have to deal with her problems with Justin. She knew that if Justin came home and found her intoxicated he would become upset but she didn't care. He had his fun. Why couldn't she? Iris sat down on the couch next to Sofie and poured herself another glass of wine.

This time she nursed her drink for a while and began to talk to Sofie about her life with the Carnivale. Iris was fascinated that Sofie had lead such a decadent life and she found herself a little envious at the freedom Sofie seemed to have. Iris herself had never worn pants like Sofie or gone from one exciting town to another, and to her that seemed like freedom. She didn't pry into Sofie's past but instead allowed the girl to talk freely about her life there. As Sofie talked about the Carnivale before the Depression, Iris nursed her drink and found that her glass had become empty. She poured herself another glass and listened as Sofie told her about her best friend Libby and how they used to drink Mescal together.

Sofie enjoyed talking about the good times she had in the Carnivale. She didn't want to talk about the bad times like finding out that Jonesy had been seeing Rita Sue or how her Mama had tried to kill her. No Sofie wanted to be happy and so she said nothing of this to Miss Crowe. They were on their third glass of wine when Iris asked her what job her best friend had at the Carnivale.

"She danced the cooch."

Iris spit her wine out and started giggling. "She did what?"

Sofie giggled and told her, "She danced the cooch. You know, she danced for money in the Hoochie Coochie show." Both women looked at each other and burst at laughing again. Their laughter filled the living and Iris found herself unable to stop laughing. Tears formed in her eyes and she fell back on the couch almost spilling her glass of wine.

"Haven't you ever been to a carnival?" Sofie asked her.

Iris smiled at the girl and giggled again. She had in fact been to a carnival a few times and once when she was younger and Justin had been about to leave for Seminary, they had gone together. Justin had won her a prize at one of the booths. It was a little stuffed bear that they had named Dimitri after their old childhood tutor back in Russia. The bear had a serious face just like Dimitri and they had laughed as they recalled how their tutor used to be so serious when teaching them their lessons and how he had only smiled when the pretty new maid would walk by their classroom door. Iris frowned to herself. She didn't want to think about pretty maids right now.

Sofie saw her frown but didn't ask any questions. Instead she stood up and pushed the small living room table towards the window. Iris watched her and wondered what she was going to do. To her amazement Sofie stood there and told her that she had worked the bally one night for the Cooch show.

"Bally?"

"You -hiccup- you know...the bally...the lookie look before the men would go into the real show. The ummm...-hiccup- you know the nudity show?"

Iris sat there, her face red, as she realized what Sofie was saying. She brought her hand to her mouth and giggled again. She remembered how they had been at the Carnivale and saw all the men heading towards one area of the Carnivale. Then they had seen a woman walk by in a scantly clad dress and Iris had turned bright red. Justin and her had turned the other way and ended up on the ferris wheel. Iris blinked her eyes as she remember what had happen on the ferris wheel and then turned bright red. Sofie was still watching her and Iris didn't want to explain so she asked Sofie what she was going to do next.

"Show you some moves Libby taught me. Wait -hiccup- we need music."

Sofie stumbled her way to the Crowe's radio and Iris laughed as she watched Sofie fall on her bottom and turn the radio on. As Sofie was trying to find a radio station, Iris poured herself another glass of wine. The wine, Iris found, had a nice little kick to it and she found herself thinking she should send Tommy Dolan a thank you card in prison for leaving it behind. She sat back on the couch and took another sip of wine. She blinked her eyes again as Sofie finally found a radio station she liked. Iris didn't know what song was playing, but she found that she liked it.

"So- I...Sofieee what song is this?" she asked as Sofie began to dance on the living room carpet. Iris giggled as Sofie danced and Sofie began to spin in circles. Iris covered her eyes to keep from going cross-eyed as Sofie spun around. She placed her glass down on the floor next to the couch and tried to stand up. She lost her balance and fell back onto the couch. Sofie saw this and stopped spinning and laughed at her. Iris laughed too and asked Sofie again what song was playing.

"Wow, you don't know Benny Goodman?" Sofie ask her amazed.

"Ummm...-hiccup- I don't know...is this it?" she ask.

Sofie giggled again and Iris tried to stand up again but failed. Sofie fell to the floor and laughed some more. "This is Sing Sing Sing...it's a great song...me and Be – oh, wow, I can't remember his name...we...-hiccup-...umm we..."

Iris stared at her as if she had grown two heads and Sofie's face got redder. What was she saying to Miss Crowe? Sofie couldn't remember; instead she crawled over to the table and found the second wine bottle. She poured herself another glass and drank it down in one gulp. The song changed and Sofie crawled back to the couch with the glass in one of her hands. Iris had been watching her the whole time, and when Sofie got back to the couch, she asked her what she was going to say.

"Oh we...ummm...ya know..." Sofie stuttered, redder than ever.

Iris stared at her until it finally dawned on her what Sofie was trying to tell her. Her face got redder and she hiccupped again. Sofie didn't know what to say so she looked down at her hands. They had been having such a good time and now she was sure Miss Crowe was going to start lecturing her on the virtues of chastity.

Iris sat there not knowing what to say to the young girl. She knew that Sofie had lived a hard life and she didn't want to pass judgment on her. Sofie had been kind to her and Iris didn't want to ruin their happy little wine party. She took her hand and placed it on Sofie's. Surprised, Sofie looked up at her and Iris spoke next.

"It's ok...I...did you have a nice -hiccup- time, dear?"

Sofie was shocked by the question but grateful that Miss Crowe wasn't going to start lecturing her. Iris was still looking at the young girl and she hoped that Sofie had heard her right.

"Yeah..I did...," Sofie said. Iris smiled and Sofie without thinking said, "Was your first time nice, too?"

Iris blushed at Sofie's question and she began to mutter to herself in Russian. The song changed again as Iris tried to find the right words to say. Sofie was just sitting there waiting as if her question was the normalest thing to ask a preacher's old maid sister. Iris finally found her voice and spoke almost in a hushed whisper.

"Yes, it was."

Both women looked at each other and then began to grin idiotically at what they had just both admitted to each other. Sofie started to giggle again and soon Iris was joining her. Their laughter filled the living and Iris found tears running down her face from laughing so hard. The song changed again and Iris found that she actually knew this song. She stood up and staggered over to the center of the room. As Sofie watched amazed, she began to sing along with the radio. Miss Crowe could sing! Sofie giggled as Iris sang out, "Love me or leave me let me lonely...You don't believe me but I love you only...-hiccup...I'd rather be lonely than happy with somebody else..." Iris finished her verse and Sofie stood up clapping and then fell backwards again onto the couch. The song continued and Iris began to turn around in circles like a little kid with her arms outstretched. Sofie jumped up again, joining Miss Crowe spinning around the room.

Together they sang out the words to the song on the radio. "You might think that night time is the right time for kissing.. both women giggled at the word "kissing"... Night time is my time for reminiscing.. Regretting instead of forgetting somebody else..." The song ended and Sofie fell onto the floor, dizzy from spinning around. Iris stopped spinning and tried to make her eyes focus. She laughed as she told Sofie she would be right back and headed for the downstairs bathroom.

Sofie continue to sit on the floor listening to the radio. She thought to herself that Libby would like Miss Crowe if they ever met. She was happy because now she had another drinking buddy. Sofie frowned as she thought that Brother Justin wouldn't like their drinking. Then she giggled as she thought of Brother Justin as a young man like Miss Crowe had described being embarrassed by the Cooch Show. She giggled more as she thought of Brother Justin meeting Rita Sue and Stumpy. He wouldn't know what to make of them and Sofie laughed as she pictured Stumpy talking about Brother Justin as just another rube.

Iris came back to the living room and fell onto the couch. Sofie laughed at her and Iris giggled as she poured herself another glass of wine. She leaned back onto the couch and started talking about Brother Justin as a young man. Sofie sat on the floor mesmerized at the stories Miss Crowe was telling her. She blinked her eyes as Miss Crowe's voice kept going in and out of her ears. She found it hard to concentrate on what Miss Crowe was saying. Something about a Carnivale...then a car ride home...Justin... Sofie blinked her eyes again and found that she couldn't understand a word Miss Crowe was saying. She began to giggle as she watched Miss Crowe's mouth move but no words came out. She was giggling so hard that she fell to her right and landed on the carpet and started laughing harder. Iris was sitting on the couch mumbling something even she couldn't understand. She watched as Sofie continued laughing and rolling around on the carpet. In her foggy mind she thought that Sofie shouldn't be messing up the carpet like that.

Iris stopped talking and she tried to sit back up but failed. Instead she dropped her glass and watched as it hit the floor, shattering. The shattered glass made a pretty picture to her and she leaned down to pick up a piece. The glass was shiny and Iris found that she liked it a lot. She sat back down on the couch, kicking off her shoes and curling up on her side. She let the glass dance against the window. The window let in light and she found to her surprise that the glass reflected back a rainbow. Sofie had quit laughing by now and crawled over to the table and poured herself another glass. The radio continued to play and Sofie stood up and began to dance around the room with her glass in hand. The wine spilled out but Sofie didn't notice. Iris continued laying on the couch and playing with the shattered glass.


	3. Three

The Fine Print: DK and HBO own them; we just take them out to play.

Note: With the impending Armageddon, we thought Iris, Justin, and Sofie could use a little fun. So from the seeds of Dana's brilliant idea at the chat the other night, grows this collaborative fanfic. Dana has written Chapters 1, 2, and 5. I wrote 3 and 4.

**Red Red Wine**

Chapter Three

By Julie (ellisbelle)

The song on the radio changed once again. This time to a seedy jazz tune that Sofie recognized from one of Libby's numbers. Sofie laughed wickedly and looked over at Iris, who was still preoccupied with the refracted light from the broken glass.

"Put that down and come up here with me."

Iris looked up at her expectantly. She leaned forward off the couch. "What are we going to do?"

Sofie held out her hands to Iris and explained, "I'm going to show you how to dance."

"Hmmm . . . I don't dance, dear," Iris answered and tried to lean back down against the couch, but Sofie maintained her grip on her hands.

"But you were just dancing," Sofie offered as she leaned back on her heels and pulled Iris up, causing both of them to stumble unsteadily.

"When?" asked Iris incredulously.

Sofie laughed at her and shook her head. She pushed Iris over into the middle of the room. "Right about there." She positioned them a few feet away from each other, dramatically measuring out the distance with her arm.

Horns from the radio blared out provocatively across the room.

Iris narrowed her eyes at Sofie and tilted her chin down to fix her in a stare. "Just what kind of a dance are we going to do to this music?"

Sofie laughed again then shook her head, making her face very serious for a moment. Then she wildly flung out one arm towards Iris while lifting an imaginary hat from her head with the other. "Why the finest European muscle dancin' this side of Ol' Gay Paree," she barked out in her best Stumpy impression.

Iris laughed at her and asked, "That soundswhat kind of dance is that?"

Sofie leaned in like she was about to tell Iris a secret, and then explained, "Not quite the cooch"—she grabbed at Iris's hips and shook them until Iris swatted her hands away—"but it's gettin' pretty darn close, if you know what I mean."

"I can imagine. And you've done this before?"

"Sure. Libby taught me. Nothin' to it."

Iris smiled widely at her and asked excitedly, "What do I do first?"

Sofie surveyed Iris critically. Despite being completely pissed drunk, Iris still managed to look like a school marm somehow. "Well, first you need to loosen up a bit." Sofie moved in front of Iris. "Take your hair down, for starters. Undo a few of those buttons—just relax." Her voice sounded strange, as she exaggerated her pronunciation, trying not to sound drunk.

Iris hurried to comply, pulling the pins out of her hair and letting it fall to her shoulders.

"Bet—ter," Sofie drug out the word, "but still not quiet . . ." Iris still looked awkward.

"Have another drink," Sofie commanded. Iris staggered over to the table then looked back at Sofie, frowning.

"But I broke my glass," she whined.

"Just drink from the bottle." Iris threw her head back like a pro and took a long swallow of the wine, stumbling back a step as she did. She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand and tried to set the bottle pack down on the table but it was too close to the edge and it started to wobble.

Sofie took the bottle from Iris and righted it on the table. Then she took Iris by the shoulders and shook her soundly. "Loosen up," she squeaked at her.

When she let her go, Iris kept swaying. She grabbed at her head, leaning it towards her body. "SofSofie, do you see the room spinning?" She sounded slightly panicked.

"Sometimes," Sofie laughed. "But you should see the stuff you'll see drinkin' Mescal . . ." Sofie cut herself off abruptly. Even in her current state she realized that Miss Crowe was most certainly not ready to hear about her and Libby and the . . . nipples.

Iris brought her hand to her lips and stopped moving, her eyes wide with concern.

"Whatsa matter?"

"I can't feel my lips," Iris said poking at them with her fingers.

"Good, then I'd say you're loosened up enough." Sofie turned the radio up even louder and moved back to the carpet. "Now just do what I do."

Sofie started to rotate her hips slowly and seductively, or at least she tried. Iris laughed.

"You look like you're trying to hula-hoop," she snickered.

"Do you want to learn how to do this or not?"

"Yes. Sorry—please go on," Iris barely got the words out before she started to laugh again.

Sofie ignored her and started to sway her hips again. She ran her hands down her neck and across her stomach.

Iris took all of this in and tried to mirror Sofie's movements. She felt awkward for a moment but she soon let the music sweep her along. She arched her shoulders and moved her hips in slow circles, running her hands from her hips to her chest.

"I want a cigarette." The words slipped out of Sofie's mouth and she realized she was staring. She threw herself into dancing again to cover.

"I want . . ." Iris trailed her hand down her hips then turned bright red for the millionth time that night as she realized what she wanted. "My brother to come home."

Sofie didn't hear her as she was caught up in twirling her arms above her head. "What did you say?" she yelled over at her.

"Nothing."

Sofie stopped dancing and looked over at Iris again. "Who are you thinking about while you're doing that?" Sofie knew she was walking a thin line, but hadn't Iris just told her about losing her virginity and some other stuff that was kinda blurry now?

"My, aren't we full of impertinent questions tonight, young lady."

"It's just that when I danced that time, I was thinkin' about somebody—that's all."

Iris continued dancing and giggled at Sofie. She covered her face with her hand as she started to blush. She had been thinking of Justin. "Mmmm . . . I was thinking about someone." She uncovered her face and smiled. She ran her hands up her thighs pulling her dress up slightly with the movement. "His hands. His hands—are so—big."

Sofie snorted. "I thought you had somebody in mind," she teased.

Sofie turned her back to Iris and put her hands on her hips. "Do tell." She looked coyly back over her shoulder, raising her eyebrow—then froze.

"What's going on in here!" Justin's booming voice echoed through the living room.

Justin stood in the doorway taking in the scene before him. The room was a mess—the table was shoved over against the wall, the carpet was all bunched up, and something was broken all over the floor. And Sofie and Iris were dancing. Not just dancing, but—they way she was moving. And then his eyes narrowed on the two wine bottles.

"Justin," Iris said, happily turning to face him. "I'm sooo glad you're home," she said sweetly, stumbling over in his direction. She lifted her head towards his for her accustomed kiss hello, standing up on her tiptoes to reach him. Without thinking, he leaned to kiss her on the cheek but realized too late that she meant to kiss him on the lips. As her lips brushed against his, he turned his head sharply and pushed her a step back from him.

Painfully aware of Sofie's presence in the room, he glared at her over Iris's shoulder. "Have you been drinking?"

Sofie smiled at him and ventured, "Could be."

He turned his attention back to Iris who was still swaying a bit from foot to foot to the music, as she stood right in front of him. Taking her by the shoulders, he asked, "Are you _drunk_?"

"Nooo," she said shaking her head—then started to nod her head in the other direction, "Yes."

"Yeah, I'm pretty tight," Sofie added to the confession, "and Miss Iris is drunker than a fiddler's bitch."

He exhaled loudly. "Sofie, you will not use that kind of ungodly language in our house."

Before she could stop herself, Sofie blurted out, "What—we can say _shit_—but not _bitch_?"

Justin's mouth fell open in shock.

"When did we say _shit_?" Iris asked, confused. She hadn't really been paying attention to their conversation because she had been watching Justin's fists clenching and unclenching next to his thighs.

"We were just talking about you, dear," she said stepping closer to him again and changing the subject.

"We were?" Sofie asked confused. She thought back over the last couple of hours to Iris's talk of their childhood and figured that must be what she was referring to. "Yeah, we were."

"Really," Justin answered dryly. He shook his head at them. "I want an explanation for all of this—this shameful behavior. What if I had been one of the guards or one of the migrants? What if they had seen the two of you like this?"

Looking back over her shoulder at Sofie, Iris explained, "Brother Justin wasn't always this uptight, you know." He looked down at her in disbelief. He had never seen his sister behave this way.

"You need to loosen up, but I'm afraid we drank all the wine." Iris looked at her brother contemplatively for a second then grabbed his forearms and tried to shake him. She didn't move him at all and he just looked down at her like she had gone insane. All she did was succeed in making herself a little dizzy again.

"It didn't work on him," she explained to no one in particular. "But I know what does," she added with a wicked little grin, reaching out to stroke the collar of his jacket.

"Iris," he warned. He turned his attention back to Sofie, hoping to distract his sister. "Sofie, I'm ashamed of you. I bring you into our house, make you a part of our family, and this is how you repay me?"

Sofie looked down at her feet, like a scolded child.

"Where did this alcohol come from? Did you bring it into the house?"

Sofie looked up at him about to speak when Iris cut in, "No, it was in our icebox."

"Why would we have liqueur in our icebox? Don't you think I would have known about that? Surely, you don't think I would have allowed it."

Sofie felt braver again with Iris on her side. "Well, you don't exactly spend a lot of time in the kitchen."

"What?" he asked in disbelief.

"Well, I don't know about that," Iris began with a smirk. "He's been quite handy in the kitchen with me before." His eyes shot back to Iris in warning.

She huffed at him. "One of the bottles was from your radio friend and the other was from my first—_date_—with Tommy Dolan."

Justin's eyes narrowed at her.

She smiled at him smugly, perching herself on the arm of the couch and moving to cross her legs. She promptly fell backwards with a shriek. She started laughing hysterically, dangling her legs over the arm of the chair.

Justin watched her fall ungracefully to the sofa, still not quite believing this was his Iris acting in such a way. His eyes fell onto her legs draped over the arm—to his growing discomfort, he realized that her dress had ridden up over her knees. He swallowed hard, following the lines of her calves. Despite her behavior, it was definitely his Iris.

He put his hand to his forehead and rubbed at his temple. "Do you two realize what you have done? I have three very important men—influential men from Washington—coming over here to meet with me. In 15 minutes. How is this going to look to them? This place looks like the back room at a speak easy."

"I can clean it up," Sofie said enthusiastically and started to clear up the table. In her haste, she knocked over the bottle of wine and spilled the rest of it onto the carpet. "Sorry."

"Sofie! Just go upstairs to your room."

She stared at him for a moment, her lips thinning in annoyance. But she turned and headed for the stairs, mumbling under her breath, "Huhh, you'd think he was my father or something."

A strange squeak escaped Iris's mouth before she could stop it.

"Upstairs!"

"Goodnight, Sofie dear," Iris called from the couch.

Sofie looked down at her from the stairwell. "Nite, Miss Iris."

"You will have to tell me more about that red pig one day." Sofie grinned down at her new friend's words before disappearing up the stairs.

Iris giggled. "Porked."

Justin turned his attention back to Iris. "I just don't know what to say to you right now, Iris."

She looked up at him glumly. He shook his head at her again then looked at the room behind her. He would just have to have the meeting on the porch. His thoughts were brought to an abrupt halt as he felt something running up his thigh towards—

"Irina!" he yelped as he caught her foot in his hand and moved it away from him.

He stared down at her, at a loss, as she smiled up at him. "Get up."

"Help me," she asked innocently, holding out her hand.

He stepped towards her but she didn't take his hand. Instead she grabbed his lapels in both of hers and pulled herself up until she was sitting on the arm of the sofa again, her legs falling open around him. He looked down at her exposed thighs tightening around his own. Her skirt was pulled up to the top of her thighs giving him a clear view of not only where the darker material of her stockings met her creamy skin, but also of what was hidden inside the shadow of her skirt. "When did she start wearing those?" he thought.

"Shit."

Before she had time to react, he took her face in his hands and kissed her, making her head spin again with its force. He tangled his hand in her hair to hold her against him.

Her hands were clutching at his neck as his arms finally wrapped around her waist. He stood up bringing her with him, so that her feet didn't quite touch the ground. He drew his lips away from hers, just enough to whisper against them, "You taste like wine." Then he dropped her to her feet unceremoniously, leaving her standing unsteadily against him.

"I don't have time for this, 'Ira. I have a meeting in a matter of minutes."

"Can't you get rid of them?" she pouted.

"No."

Her hands where at neck again, her fingers sliding under his collar and then around to the back of his neck to graze her fingernails across his skin.

"I've been telling Sofie about the time we went to the Carnivale. You remember that night don't you, Alexsei," she asked softly staring up at him. "When you stopped the car afterwards and we were laying in the grass. When I finally let you . . ." she whispered the rest needlessly in his ear, for he groaned at the memory before he could stop himself. Iris took this as a sign and moved her hands from his neck to his belt. "Let's go for a drive, Alexsei—out past the camps."

Without warning he bent and grabbed her around her thighs, lifting her up and tossing her over his shoulder.

She gasped. "Alexsei, what are you doing?" He walked quickly across the room and towards the stairs with her.

"I'm taking you to bed."

"Praise the Lord."

He laughed despite himself. "Not for that."

She stared upside down into the dark fabric of his jacket. "Why not?"

"My guests will be here in less than 10 minutes."

"Then you have 8 minutes to make me"

"Irina."

"_Alexsei_."

"I don't have time for this now." He put one hand against the rail as he started up the stairs.

He froze on the third step at the sound of someone clearing his throat. "Uhm, Brother Justin? I'm afraid we are a little early."

Justin swore under his breath in Russian. He took a moment to collect himself before turning to face them.

Iris on the other hand, still draped over his shoulder, lost no time in sticking out her hand and playing hostess.

"Hello, gentlemen. I'm Iris Crowe. Welcome to our home."

The men stared at her hand and made no move to shake it.

"We were just going to bed," she stated matter-of-factly.

Justin swore again. What a scene. It must look exactly like what it almost was. As he finally turned to face them, he saw it written across the men's faces. He followed their eyes to Iris's legs, where his hand had unwittingly bunched up her skirt and was laying across the back of her naked thigh.

He smiled at them and took a breath. "Yes, welcome. I'm glad you could stop by. However, as you can see, you've come at a bit of an awkward moment. My sister isn't feeling well."

"I would be feeling much better if you three weren't here," Iris stated. Luckily she had slipped back into Russian and they couldn't understand her. "You are very tall," she said glancing around from her perch on his shoulder. That came out in English.

"Excuse me for a moment, won't you gentlemen?" Justin turned from them and marched up the stairs with Iris in tow. Just before they reached the landing, he called her the Russian name for a woman of decidedly ill reputation.

She slapped at what happened to be closest to her hand—his backside. Justin bit his lip to keep from yelling at her. The men downstairs had to have seen that.

"My dear sister, you are going to pay for that."

"I'm counting on it, brother dear."

Once inside her bedroom, he dropped her to the bed and stood looming over her.

She wasted no time in unfastening the buttons of her skirt and wiggling out of it. Next her shirt went over her head and landed somewhere near Justin's feet. Despite his meeting downstairs, he couldn't help but watch as she stripped.

Her slip joined her shirt by his feet.

Despite his irritation, he looked at her, a huge grin creeping across his face.

"Those are new."

She followed his gaze, looking down at herself then smiled back up at him.

She frowned.

"That Stroud man said that I smelled and then he put his hands all over my underwear."

"He did what?" Justin asked, sure he hadn't heard her correctly.

"Well, I wasn't wearing them at the time. But I could have been."

"You aren't making any sense, dear," he said trying to humor her and keep his rising anger at the thought of Stroud touching Iris in check. "But if he's bothered you—"

"He has," she cut in.

Justin nodded. "Rest assured, I'll deal with him later," he said through slightly clenched teeth.

"Do you know what else that man said to me?" she asked, rising to her knees on the bed, waving her hands animatedly, in her growing anger.

"I'm almost afraid to ask."

"He said that I needed a good—" she paused at the word and motioned for Justin to come closer to her. She whispered it in his ear. "And not some pansy—" She pulled him in again to finish her sentence.

His eyes widen in shock and he pulled back from her to stare her in the face. "'_Ira_."

"You're not going to let him get away with saying things like that about you, are you?" she asked seriously. "But as much as I _hate_ that man, I do agree about that first part."

"Please, just behave." He pealed her arms from around his neck where they had snaked as he spoke. "I need to go down stairs. Now, be a good girl and stay up here—quietly—and I'll come up as soon as I'm done."

He walked to the door but then turned as if changing his mind, quickly making his way to the bed. He leaned over her and whispered in her ear, "When I come back, you can show me that little dance you were doing downstairs." He kissed her on the cheek then left the room.

Before heading downstairs to finesse his way out of this situation with a little smooth talk and quite a lot of mind control, Justin paused at the top of the stairs considering the very strange turn his day had taken. And then he wandered who was going to clean up the mess in the living room.

On a random Tuesday in 1938, the Junior Senator from California will find himself putting down the newspaper he had been reading over breakfast and staring off into space for a moment. He will think about the time he visited the Crowe household and have a sudden flash of the preacher with his sister flung half-naked over his shoulder. He will shake his head and go back to his paper thinking, "Surely not."


	4. Four

The Fine Print: DK and HBO own them; we just take them out to play.

Note: With the impending Armageddon, we thought Iris, Justin, and Sofie could use a little fun. So from the seeds of Dana's brilliant idea at the chat the other night, grows this collaborative fanfic. Dana has written Chapters 1, 2, and 5. I wrote 3 and 4.

**Red Red Wine**

Chapter Four

By Julie (ellisbelle)

Iris Crowe woke up to the unexpected pleasure of her very first hangover. She squinted at the morning sun creeping through her curtains—in blinding rays—towards the singing of the loudest birds she had ever heard. She tried to lift her head from the pillow but it felt as if it were made of led. Frankly, it felt like she had tried to eat the pillow—her mouth was so dry. She swallowed painfully. God, what had happened to her? She closed her eyes again. Her memory of last night was sketchy at best. Sofie. Wine. Music. Wine. Dancing. Wine. Justin.

She opened her eyes again and looked at her room. Her clothes were scattered haphazardly across the floor. She raised herself up on her elbows and bent her neck to look down at her body—no clothes, well, except for those lacy panties she had splurged on last month. _"Those are new."_ Justin's words floated into her mind. Justin. Where was Justin? She looked over her shoulder to the other side of her bed to see if he was beside her. No Justin. He was nowhere to be seen.

For the life of her, she couldn't remember what, if anything, had happened last night once he come back upstairs. Color flooded her face. Judging from her current state of undress, it would appear that something had happened between the two of them. She smiled at the thought. It had been so long.

But she didn't remember it. She frowned.

Her head swam as she forced herself to sit up on the side of the bed. When she stood, her stomach lurched. She wobbled unsteadily on her feet for a moment before collecting herself enough to pull her robe out of the closet and make her way to the bath. She needed a very long shower. And a big glass of water.

Later, when Iris came downstairs, showered and dressed for the day, Varlyn Stroud was lurking around the living room.

He noticed Iris and raised his eyebrows at her. "Hell of a party ya'll had in here last night, it looks like."

"Stroud! Get in here!" Justin yelled from the study.

Stroud shrugged his shoulders and sauntered towards the doorway. As he was walking past Iris, he paused to leer down at her, smirking.

She smiled sweetly at him. "I told."

The grin washed away from Stroud's face, and his eyes narrowed at her. She could see the sweat start to break out on his forehead. "Have a good morning, Mr. Stroud," she said in her most polite voice and walked towards the back porch without looking back.

She felt almost good despite the pounding in her head and the queasiness of her stomach, as she stepped out into the warm morning sunshine. She noticed Sofie standing with her back to her and smiled, shaking her head and recalling most of what had happened in the living room.

"Good morning, Sofie."

Sofie jumped guiltily, turning towards Iris and hiding something behind her back, as she returned the greeting.

The smoke wafting up from behind Sofie was a dead give away that she had been caught smoking. Iris just laughed. "Really, dear, I'd think that after yesterday, you'd know that you don't have to hide that from me."

Sofie grinned and brought the cigarette back to her lips for another drawl. Exhaling, she said, "You don't know how hard these were to come by around here. I had to bribe one of the Oakies with front row seats for the next meeting to get this pack."

Iris laughed again but stopped abruptly as a sharp pain split through her forehead. She brought her hand up to her temple and rubbed at it.

Sofie chuckled. "We got bit by the same dog." She watched as Iris smiled at her euphemism. "Hey, you want one of these?" she offered conspiratorially, holding out the hard won pack.

"I don't smoke."

"Just like you don't drink and you don't dance."

"You've got a point."

"It'll give you a bit of a boost."

Iris shook her head but held out her hand to take the offered cigarette. Sofie brought a box of matches out of her pocket and leaned in to Iris to light the cigarette.

Iris looked uncertainly at it but put it to her lips and inhaled.

She coughed and sputtered, while her eyes watered. She looked accusingly at Sofie.

"It takes a little getting used to," Sofie explained.

After a few minutes, Sofie looked over at Iris and smiled. "You're doing that like a pro now."

"Smoking now, too, are we, girls?"

They both turned to see Justin standing in the doorway with his arms folded across his chest.

"I swear I'm going to put a bell on you one day," Iris teased, smiling at him. She felt a blush start to creep across her cheeks as bits and pieces of last night started to come back to her. The warm feeling soon turned cold as he continued to stare callously at her.

"You don't smoke, Iris," he said tersely.

"Actually, Justin, I have done lots of things that you don't know about." She didn't feel like taking anything off of him today.

"Oh really, like what?" he replied sarcastically.

"Just things."

Flashes of Iris with Tommy Dolan rushed through his mind, his Irina doing those things with someone else.

Iris's mind wondered to a morning spent with Norman on the desk in his study—Justin definitely didn't know about that.

They both glared at each other uncomfortably, but were unable to look away.

They had completely forgotten that Sofie was standing two feet away, looking from one face to the other as they argued. She cleared her throat and caught Justin's attention.

"And _you_ should remember how easily you can be replaced," he warned.

"No, Justin. I hired Sofie—I'll decide when she goes."

Iris looked pointedly at her brother. She took a slow drag off the cigarette and molded her lips to let the smoke curl provocatively from between them; then she threw it off the porch and smirked at him.

Without a word, Justin grabbed his sister by the elbow and led her down the steps into the yard, ignoring Sofie's gapping mouth.

"Justin, what are you doing?" Iris practically yelled as she tried to yank her arm away.

He held on firmly, paying no heed to her, marching her across the yard. Justin called back over his shoulder to Sofie, "Have that mess in the living room cleaned up by the time we get back."

"Let go of me!"

The mounted guards at the side of the house stopped to stare at the scene. Iris stopped struggling, and huffed in annoyance. "Where are we going?" she said slowly, but only so Justin could hear her.

"We are going for a drive."

She stopped walking and looked up at him. "You have meetings all morning."

"My schedule has suddenly cleared." He pulled her towards the car and opened the passenger door for her. "Get in."

She climbed in reluctantly and watched as he slammed her door then walked to the driver's side.

Once they were pulling out of their driveway, she questioned him again. "Where are we going?" she asked, her voice betraying her with the slightest hint of fear.

He didn't look in her direction, just continued to drive. "Nowhere in particular," he finally answered.

Her eyes narrowed at him and then she turned her face towards her window, refusing to look at him.

He glanced over at her then to see her pointedly avoiding him.

Iris watched out her window as the rolling landscape blurred past. She lost track of how long they had been driving. She was surprised when he finally pulled the car to the side of the road and turned off the engine. He got out without saying anything and walked around to open her door. He caught her hand and pulled her up towards him. She looked around her. Nothing. Just grass and the occasional tree.

His face was unreadable as he led her farther and farther away from the road and deeper into the grassy field. Suddenly he dropped to his knees, yanking her down to the ground beside him. Before she could recover herself, he rolled on top of her pinning her body to the ground with his.

She looked up at him, fear written across her face—then confusion as she realized that he was smiling down at her, laughing.

She exhaled loudly. "I don't understand. What's going on?"

"You don't remember what happened last night, do you?"

"Only parts of it," Iris reluctantly admitted.

"Then you don't recall that when I came back upstairs last night, you were passed out cold across your bed. I couldn't wake you up."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "That's all that happened?" she said with a mixture of disappointment and relief.

"I'm afraid so," he said, his lips hovering just above hers now. "However, you were quite convincing when you tried to persuade me to go for a drive with you."

That Iris remembered.

"You mentioned a certain trip to the Carnivale." He kissed her cheek. "And the drive home." He dipped his head again to kiss her neck.

"You won Dimitri for me," she said shakily.

"Yes," he smiled down at her, holding her gaze. "But I think I got an even better prize afterwards." His mouth fell to her neck again, at her pulse, just below her ear.

"Did you really?" she breathed hoarsely.

"Mmmm, yes, I did," he whispered against her ear, biting at her earlobe. "Do you want me to show you?"

"I want you," she said, her mouth so close to his that he could feel her breath brushing against his lips, "to show me wonderful," she kissed his lower lip, "terrible things, Alexsei."

And so he did.

**To be continued by Dana . . .**


	5. Five

The Fine Print: DK and HBO own them; we just take them out to play.

Note: Dana makes with the angst again in this chapter—she can't help herself—these characters just scream out for it; though we now know what those "other duties" were that Iris was going to be so busy with. More Norman torture follows too. That poor, poor man.

**Red Red Wine**

Chapter Five

by Dana (twinb80)

Sofie was just about done cleaning up the living room when Brother Justin and Miss Iris returned. They both appeared happier and Sofie was glad to note that they weren't fighting with each other anymore. She watched as Brother Justin went back into his study and saw Miss Iris go into the kitchen. Sofie trailed after her and brought the wine bottles into the kitchen. She quickly threw the bottles away and waited to be told what needed to be done next. Miss Iris was humming to herself and didn't seem to notice Sofie standing there. Sofie took the opportunity to study Miss Iris. She appeared much happier and was even glowing a bit if Sofie saw right. She wondered where Brother Justin and his sister had gone off to for such a long period of time. When Brother Justin had grabbed Miss Iris's arm and taken her to their car Sofie had been left with her mouth hanging open. She didn't know that much about sibling relationships so she couldn't tell if Brother Justin's reaction to Miss Iris's comment about him not knowing certain things was normal. Instead, she had watched as they both got into the car and drove off down the road. Even the guards at the gate had been taken aback at them arguing like that. She watched as the car got tinnier as it drove further away and wondered where they were going in such a hurry. When she could finally not see the car anymore she had stood up and went inside to clean up the living room.

The hardest part about cleaning up the living room had been getting rid of the wine stain left on the carpet by Sofie. She had spent almost a half hour just scrubbing the stain before it started to go away. As she scrubbed the stain she had sang softly to herself "You Are My Sunshine." Sofie liked that song but some parts of it were sad. The stain finally disappeared and Sofie stood up. Her back ached and she hadn't realized how long she had been bent over on her knees scrubbing the stain. She put her hands over her head and gave herself a good stretch. She had then picked up the washcloth and water bucket and headed back to the kitchen. After putting everything away she then decided to check on Reverend Balthus since he was now in her care. Just like Mama. Sofie sighed and tried not to think about her mother. Once they had been so close and then as Sofie grew older the arguments had began till the point came that Sofie just wanted to get away from Mama. She never thought her mother would try to kill her though. Small tears formed in her eyes and Sofie wiped them away with her hand. No, she wouldn't think about Mama right now. Now she had to check on Reverend Balthus and make sure he was doing alright. She found him in his room sitting on the only chair in there. A book was on his lap but he wasn't reading it. Sofie had tried to be kind to him but she could tell that he didn't trust her completely yet.

"Reverend Balthus how are you doing? Can I get you anything?"

He said nothing but continued to stare past her. Sofie wondered if the poor man was lost in the past. She couldn't blame him if he were. She knew that he was a good man and he had been kind to Brother Justin and Miss Iris when they were children and Sofie wished that there was something she could do to cheer him up. She sat down on the bed and glanced at the book in his hands. The title read "Great Expectations" and she wonder if Reverend Balthus would like her to read to him. She leaned forward and tried to gently take the book from him. His hands held tightly to the book as if it were a lifeline on a sinking ship. Sofie sighed and look around the room. She didn't know what to do since she couldn't hear Reverend Balthus's thoughts like she had with Mama. Her hands found a thread on his bedspread and she began to play with it. The silence bothered her and she began to talk just so the room wouldn't be so silent.

"You know, I can read to you if you want. My Mama taught me how when I was really small so I would know how to read the cards. Thats a fortune cards ya know. Me and Mama did that. Read the cards at the Carnivale. Have you ever been to a carnival?"

Norman shook his head a little and Sofie took that as a sign that he wanted to hear more about her past life. His eyes appeared to focus on her and she smiled at him, happy that he was now in the present and not the past.

"You know what we used to do in the Carnivale? We used to wake the people up who were in the towns and came to see us. Yup that was us. Townies is what we used to call the people. When I was a kid, townies used to get a kick out of me reading the cards. Of course it wasn't me reading them. Mama read the cards and told me what to say. But the townies sure did eat it up. Not that Mama ever lied. Nope she didn't need to do thatMama could see. Past. Present. Future. It was all the same to her."

At this Sofie got quiet and she all of a sudden didn't want to talk about Mama anymore. Instead she began to ramble on about yesterday and how she and Miss Iris had gotten so drunk that Sofie had woke up the next morning wondering if the event had really happen. Sofie talked about how she had gotten Miss Iris to dance just like Libby had taught her. And how much fun they had just singing and spinning around on the carpet like two little kids. Sofie smiled as she remembered how kind Miss Iris had been when she had accidentally mentioned being with Ben. She didn't mention this to Reverend Balthus but told him instead how nice Miss Iris had been and how she had even told Sofie stories about Brother Justin as a little boy and as a teenager.

"You should have heard some of those stories Reverend. They were great and it was nice to hear how much you and your late wife had loved them so. That's a good thing to have as a little kid -love. My Mama loved me but...You know Miss Iris told me she and Brother Justin went to a carnival once. I wonder if they ever went to the one I worked at? Nah, probably not. Maybe before my time though. I know carnivals used to be a big thing to go to. That's what Mama used to say. Miss Iris told me how Brother Justin had won her a prize at one of the booths once. Aint't that nice? Reverend Balthus...?"

Sofie had been rambling on so much that she hadn't noticed that Reverend Balthus didn't appear to be paying attention to her. Sofie sighed again. She thought talking about happy times would make him happy too. She studied his face and found that he was still paying attention to her. She asked him if he wanted her to continue and he nodded his head. Sofie smiled and went back to talking about Brother Justin and Miss Iris.

"Ya know, Miss Iris told me something funny. Well I think its funny to picture it but she told me that once they had been at a carnival and seen one of the ummm how do I say thisone of the Dance Ladies go by and Miss Iris had gotten so red in the face. Hahaha. Can you imagine? Brother Justin at one of the Cooch Shows.giggling. Oh, wait you don't know what that is, huh? Well, a Cooch Show is for gentlemen to go and watch ladies dance. Ya know like ummm..."

At this Sofie didn't know what to say so she decided to change the subject really quick. Instead she talked about how Miss Iris had told her how much fun she and Brother Justin had at the carnival and how they had even gotten back home late because they were having so much fun there.

Norman had been listening to this happily but at the mention of Justin and Iris coming home late from a carnival his mood had changed. If Norman could have, he would have frowned and brought his hands to his head in despair. But he couldn't, so he listened as Sofie rambled on about what was going on down in the valley with the Temple Of Jericho.

He had been awake yesterday evening and heard as Iris and Sofie had gotten drunk and had their fun. Part of him was happy that Iris had gotten a chance to loosen up for once and that she been able to do so without Justin hovering nearby, condemning her. He didn't have any right to do that but Norman knew if Justin were there he would have done or said something to that effect. Norman watched as Sofie's mouth continued to move but his mind was elsewhere. He had heard as Sofie was sent upstairs and Justin had tried to get Iris out of the way before his guests had gotten there. Some of their conversation was muddled and he couldn't understand some of the noises he had heard coming from the living room. But he had been laying there and heard as Justin's guests arrived earlier and had given a small smirk of satisfaction at their arrival. Justin was always so in control now that Norman enjoyed any embarrassing discomfort Justin went through, even the small ones. His eyes had gotten larger when he had heard earlier Justin say that he was taking Iris to bed and she had responded with "Praise the Lord." Justin had laughed and told her "Not for that" and Norman wasn't sure if he had heard right. He prayed he hadn't heard right but knew deep down that he had. Sofie was talking again and Norman tried to concentrate on what she was saying. Something about not realizing how late it had gotten and having to head back to the living room to finish cleaning up the mess. She made sure he was comfortable and told him that she hoped Brother Justin and Miss Iris when they got back would be on speaking terms again. Then she was gone. Norman closed his eyes and waited for Death to find him and take him away from this house.

Later he heard as Justin and Iris came back and he glanced over to the clock on his nightstand. They had been gone for two hours and Norman had wondered where they had gone off to. Usually he knew Justin had meetings in the morning and Iris was busy around the house doing housework or errands. They had been fighting earlier yesterday and Norman had heard as Justin stormed out of the house. Then he had heard later as Justin confronted Iris for being drunk and not being happy about it. And now this. Norman didn't understand. He closed his eyes and began to pray to give him strength to endure another day here. As he opened his eyes he saw Iris walk by the hallway and then stop and turn back around. She was walking his way and Norman didn't know what to expect from her. Iris found her way into his room and sat down on the bed. She appeared happy and refreshed. Norman was taken aback at how happy she was. Lately she and Justin had been fighting every other day and Norman didn't know if he could stand it any longer. As children they had never fought this much but now they were constantly at each other's throats.

Iris was talking to him about something but he found he couldn't follow along. Instead he watched her mouth move and tried to figure out what words she was saying. When that didn't work he let his eyes wander around the room and then came back to looking at Iris. He hadn't noticed before but the top two buttons on her dress were open and he thought she must have opened them to let some cool air onto her skin. The day was very hot and sure to get hotter. Norman did not look forward to this but he was surprised that Iris would leave her dress open like that. Iris was usually so prim and proper but he thought that the heat must have gotten to her. She finished talking and began to help him get back into his bed. She was telling him that she would bring in a fan while he took a nap so that he wouldn't get too hot resting.

He was lying in his bed and as she turned to bring the light blanket over him, his eyes narrowed. Her dress at first glance was spotless, but upon further inspection, his eyes found tiny grass stains and to his observant eyes he noticed that her dress was rumbled in certain places. If one weren't paying close attention, they never would have noticed these things. But Norman had and he wanted to scream out his disgust as his thoughts went racing in his mind. To confirm his suspicions he watched as Iris pulled the blanket to his chin and then hovered over him, checking his forehead to make sure he wasn't running a fever. As she did this, his eyes glanced at her open dress and he found the evidence he was looking for. His eyes traveled over the bite marks and hickeys that Justin's mouth had left. Norman closed his eyes as this thought repeated in his head. Justin had left those marks on Iris's body. It was the only explanation for how they had gotten there. He opened his eyes again and found Iris staring at him. Could she read what he was thinking? Norman didn't know, but he watched as Iris glanced down at her dress and then blushed. She mumbled something about having opened those buttons after Sofie left the kitchen and she had felt the afternoon heat seep into the kitchen then not remembering to do them up again. She looked back up at him and smiled and Norman knew she was lying. She knew he knew it too but said nothing. Instead she opened the window above his bed a little to let in the cool breeze and then she was gone. Norman closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep. Images raced across his mind and he found that he couldn't sleep. He stared up at the ceiling and began to pray again for Death to take him.


End file.
